NZ animation firm teed up to bring play in Ryder Cup matches to life

By ADAM GIFFORD

When you are watching the Ryder Cup golf tournament between the United States and Europe this month, you may be forgiven for thinking New Zealand has a team on the course.

Walking up to each ball after it has landed will be one of four staff from Dunedin firm Animation Research.

"The really cool thing is they will walk along fully kitted out in New Zealand black and white with the silver fern - we are talking to Orca and will probably run with their gear because it is so distinctly New Zealand," said Animation Research head Ian Taylor.

The Kiwis are there with their iPaq handheld computers to get a global positioning system satellite fix on the balls to feed into the animation system which is generating graphics for BSkyB, which has European rights for the contest.

Taylor said his firm picked up the job last month as a result of work it was doing for the BBC.

Animation Research has supplied the BBC with 3D graphics and ball positions for almost a dozen golf tournaments this season, including the British Open, which it also covered for BBC Interactive and ABC News in the United States.

The system was initially designed for America's Cup yachting and motorsport events.

Taylor said Animation Research subsidiary Terralink commissioned a US-based aerial mapping firm to fly over the Oakland Hills Country Club course in Michigan, then used its software to build a 3D map of the course.

"The data arrived the day before yesterday. I have the map now on a CD in my briefcase," said Taylor, on the eve of flying to the US.

"An operator we have there will spend two days adding in trees, buildings and anything else we couldn't pick up from the air.

"If grandstands or hospitality tents are put up or taken down, we can add those even while the tournament is on.

"The broadcaster can have everything, including the weather - which was very handy during the British Open."

Rather than giving broadcasters a video animation of a sequence decided earlier, Animation Research gives the broadcaster what is in effect a toolkit, so they can recreate the action on the fly.

"The director can say 'I want the view from the top of that grandstand,' or 'I want to go to ground level and chase the ball to the hole'."

Taylor is negotiating with the BBC about renewing the golf contract for a further two years.

He is also talking with Indian Cricket, building on the success doing the animations for the ESPN coverage of the just-completed Indian tour of Sri Lanka.